Over the Edge

Read: Luke 12:22-34

Tymeria let the rope slide slowly through her hand as she backed over the edge of the cliff inch by inch. She made her body into an L shape with her feet resting on the side of the cliff. She gripped the rope as tightly as she could through her thick left glove, even though Gavin had said she didn’t need to. The harness around her waist and legs held her up, but she hung on to the rope with her hand, just in case something bad happened.

One slow step-hop at a time, she inched down the cliff wall, trying not to look down. Her hand ached as she gripped the rope. She changed her direction slightly to go around a big lump in the rock. When she looked down, she saw counselors far, far below, looking up.

“Tymeria, stop squeezing the rope so hard,” Evelyn yelled. “It’s slowing you down. Hanging on doesn’t help you.”

“I’m okay,” Tymeria yelled back, squeezing the rope more tightly while she took her next step. Then something went wrong. Her foot slipped. She dropped the rope and spun in the air, scraping her shoulder against the wall.

But she didn’t fall. She was floating in midair, hands and feet spread wide, nothing holding her up but the harness around her waist. Apparently she didn’t need to hold the rope with her hand to keep from falling. And now her hand ached because she had been squeezing the rope so hard when she didn’t even need to!

After floundering around for a moment, she propped her feet against the cliff side and started stepping downward again, this time with her hand only lightly resting on the rope.

It’s just like worry, Tymeria realized. Jesus said I can trust Him, just like Gavin said I can trust the harness. But I didn’t believe him and squeezed the rope anyway. It just made my hand hurt, and it didn’t do me a bit of good.

As she neared the ground, Tymeria said a silent prayer. Jesus, please help me stop worrying. I know it just hurts me and doesn’t do any good. Help me remember that You died and rose again to save me, and that no matter what happens, you’ll always hold me up.

–Amy Glendinning

How about you? Are you dealing with a hard situation in your life? Do you feel like you need to worry to help Jesus take care of it? It won’t do a bit of good. Jesus saved you when you couldn’t do anything to save yourself, and He promises to take care of you. That doesn’t mean bad things will never happen; it means that no matter what you go through, Jesus will always be with you. You don’t have to worry!

Today’s key verse: Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? Luke 12:25-26 (NIV)

Today’s key thought: We can trust Jesus